Produced by the reporters, editors, photographers and designers of the 2013
newspapers2 high school journalism
jounralism workshop

Surviving
Summer
Surving Summer
Summer

Splash
Season

KELLEN OCHI

Camp instructor plays with a student during a swimming lesson.
By Mandy Lu
and Emma Hodge
While some kids waste their summer
laying around and staring at electronics, kids attending the Long Beach 49er
Summer Camp have been exercising and
playing sports regularly for the past four
weeks.
Kids ages 5-12 are split into four
groups: Nuggets, Prospectors, Miners,
and Sourdoughs. At the camp, they participate in various sports including swimming, archery, basketball, gymnastics,
bowling and hockey.
During the last week of the camp, the
kids enjoy the festivities of “party day” on
Wednesday afternoon. Slip ‘N Slide action
and water balloon fights are all part of the
reward for the kids’ hard work.
“It’s the best day,” Nathan McConnell

I love working with kids because I get to act
like a kids—to a certain degree, Drennan said.
said.
McConnell, 23, is a swim instructor at
the camp for the fourth year in a row. He is
currently a student at CSULB majoring in
American Studies.
In the future, McConnell sees himself
teaching and coaching water polo because
he likes working with kids, he said.
“I like seeing how they progress through
the four weeks,” Stephanie Armstrong said.

The 21-year-old Health Science major
attends CSULB and plans on working as a
physician’s assistant. This is Armstrong’s
second year as a swim instructor in the program.
Michelle Drennan, 22, graduated from
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo where she studied kinesiology. As a kid, she went to the
Long Beach 49er Summer Camp and she is
now part of the swim staff.

“I love working with kids because I
get to act like a kid—to a certain degree,”
Drennan said.
According to Austin McElrath, 20, he
is the most disciplinary on the swim staff.
Like Drennan, he also went to the camp as
a child. He now attends Pepperdine University, where he studies philosophy.
“The kids who really want to work hard
and excel—I connect well with them,”
McElrath said.
The swim instructors find working with
the kids at the camp to be very rewarding
and enjoy helping them maintain a healthy
lifestyle in a world dominated by technology. They recognize the importance of helping kids to get out of the house and stay
active.

Baseball recruits compete in tryouts
This year, California State University, Long Beach hosted baseball tryouts
that invited top players from all around the country.
By Catt Phan
and Luke Goldstein
High school baseball players from
all over the country were recruited to
the Area Code Baseball Games to showcase their talent for scouts at CSLUB’s
Blair Field on Wednesday.
Although it was the off season for the
CSULB baseball team, there was still
a murmur in the crowd and a crack of
the bat on their field. There were more
than 50 major league and college scouts
from California to Florida scoping new
talent.
The games provide one of the biggest events where scouts can find new
players for their organizations.

“From watching these players there
is the best talent in the country,” Scott
Fairbanks, an Area Code Scout for the
Pittsburg Pirates, said.
Blair Field, a 40-minute walk from
campus, sported the best high school
players from around the country who
went through an intense tryout before
making the team for their respective regions. Prior to tryouts, players had to be
invited based off the recommendations
of major league scouts.
About 3,000 are invited each year to
participate but more than 90 percent are
cut. Those who made their regional

team made it through two tryouts. The
games have more than 200 players
who make up eight teams who compete against each other from Aug. 5-10,
Kealani Kimball, Area Code employee,
said.
Jeff Latz, who traveled with his son
Jake from Chicago to represent his region said “competition is incredible.
They started practicing on Sunday.”
As parents watched their kids anxiously, there were plenty of highlights.
Although the games have no overall
winner, there is still a competitive environment as the players try to stand out.

“It’s an intense atmosphere which
shows how players handle themselves
under pressure,” said Fairbanks.
The players have put years of hard
work into their game as many of them
started playing at a young age.
Baseball runs in the blood of Nick
Valaika, who comes from a legacy of
major league players.
A senior from Hart High School, he
has played since he was six years old.
Baseball has always been his passion.
“As an athlete you want to play with
the best which is what you get to do
here,” Valaika said.